Rip Van was started by Amsterdam-native Rip Pruisken, ’10 and Marco De Leon, ’12, from their Brown University dorm room in 2010. The two used Kickstarter to launch their business, calling their product Van Wafels. The two founders slept in a Volvo station wagon as they drove across the country to deliver their product to stores. They spent two years on campus trying to improve product marketing and the quality of the snack, which is now available in stores nationwide. Rip Van now offers an expanding product line of healthier takes on classic snacks.
Read their profile in Forbes here. Both founders were named Forbes 30 Under 30 awardees in 2016.
From Left: Marco De Leon, Rip Pruisken
Photo Credit: Rip Van